“Fours means two runs short,” Andre Russell once said. He trades in sixes. It’s the currency in vogue in T20 cricket. And some of the most destructive hitters in the game come from the West Indies. It does not always reflect in the Windies T20 squad, fitness and divided priorities being the main reasons. But an assemblyline of West Indies power-hitters feature in T20 leagues around the world, and the best are in demand in IPL.
Call it the Chris
“Fours means two runs short,” Andre Russell once said. He trades in sixes. It’s the currency in vogue in T20 cricket. And some of the most destructive hitters in the game come from the West Indies. It does not always reflect in the Windies T20 squad, fitness and divided priorities being the main reasons. But an assemblyline of West Indies power-hitters feature in T20 leagues around the world, and the best are in demand in IPL.
Call it the Chris Gayle impact. The “Universe Boss” influence on West Indies T20 cricket is akin to their famed fast bowlers of the 70’s and how they inspired the generations that followed. Gayle’s “dot, dot, explode” method is now common but he figured out T20 cricket much before data analysts began wielding influence. The man who struck the first T20I hundred and hit an unbeaten 175 in IPL could do it trusting in his power to decimate bowlers, forcing them to feed him in his scoring areas.
Gayle may be done now and Kieron Pollard, 35, may be on his last legs. But Russell, 34, is going strong as an all-rounder. Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd and Odean Smith have all found an IPL team, achieving varying degrees of success and importance in their role.
Most of them bat like Gayle, using raw power. “I just think strength is everything. The base, core, shoulders, going through the ball, are very important. I strive for that,” Russell said in a batting demo on Kolkata Knight Riders’ website. “I don’t do anything (trigger). I don’t do back and across. I just stay as still as I can; then it’s just hand and eye coordination.” Russell has had another productive season and tops the chart in all time IPL strike rates, hitting at 179 across 97 matches.
“I stay deep in my crease. I trust that the bowler will miss his yorkers. And if he does, I am in the business,” said Russell. It’s this intimidation that results in bowlers experiencing a meltdown.
Gayle did the same. “Bowlers are always intimidated, from the night or even the week before when they know they’ll be up against Chris Gayle! That’s the fear I strike into them,” he had told HT.
Left-handed Shimron Hetmyer has half the IPL experience as Russell. But he ranks No 3 in leading strike rates, scoring at 156. Hetmyer is a vital cog in the Rajasthan Royals wheel, finishing the innings. He will return to action on Friday after paternity leave. At 25, there is plenty that Hetmyer has to offer.
At 28, Rovman Powell is somewhat a late bloomer. After not getting a game in 2017 and going unsold in the following auctions, this is a breakout IPL for him, scoring 207 runs for Delhi Capitals at a strike rate of 155 with 18 muscular sixes.
Powell was at the centre of action promising to hit 6 sixes in the final over to win against RR before losing momentum halfway through the over after a contentious waist high no-ball claim that was not given. Powell has filled in as West Indies captain but it is his ₹2.8 crore IPL pay cheque that will go some way in fulfilling the promise he once gave his mother, “I will take you out of poverty with my cricket.”
Southpaw Nicholas Pooran may not be as strongly built as some of his Caribbean team mates but still packs a punch. The newly appointed West Indies T20 skipper is perfectly capable of winning matches from impossible positions once he starts middling the ball.
A lot was expected from Romario Shepherd after his sparkling performance against England earlier this year. But the big-hitting all-rounder has been unable to light up IPL in the limited opportunities he has got for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Similarly, Sherfane Rutherford hasn’t received many opportunities with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Someone who makes no bones about power being his batting strength is Odean Smith. “Smith is someone who is just a big bull of a batter. He relies on massive power. Even when he mishits, it goes for six. So, with him the key point is that he makes contact with the ball,” said Punjab Kings power-hitting coach Julian Wood. Smith looked on course to create some long sixes' records this IPL for PBKS before his bowling let him down and he lost his spot in the playing eleven.
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